174 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
Eugenius did not sit idly by while his prerogatives were being tampered with and an utterly unpapal method of dealing with heretics was being pursued. He communicated with jthe princes of Europe, June 1, 143G, complaining of the high- Jtianded measures, such as the witlidrawal of the papal revenues, the suppression of the prayer for the pope in the liturgy, and the giving of a vote to the lower clergy in the syn^d. At that juncture the union with the Greeks, a question which had assumed a place of great prominence, afforded the pope the opportunity for reasserting his authority and breaking up the council in the Swiss city.
Overtures of union, starting with Constantinople, were made simultaneously through separate bodies of envoys sent to the pope and the counciL. The one met Eugenius at Bologna ; the other appeared in Basel in the summer of 1434. In discussing a place for a joint meeting of the representatives of the two communions, the Greeks expressed a preference for some Italian city, or Vienna. This exactly suited Eugenius, who had even suggested Constantinople as a place of meeting, but the synod sharply informed him that the city on the Bosphorus was not to be considered. In urging Basel, Avignon, or a city in Savoy, the Basel councilmen were losing their opportunity. Two delegations, one from the council and one from the pope, appeared in Constantinople, 1437, proposing different places of meeting.
^Wlien the matter came up for final decision, the council, by a vote of 355 to 244, decided to continue the meeting at Basel, or, if that was not agreeable to the Greeks, then at Avigngn. The minority, acting upon the pope's preference, decided in favor of Florence or Udine. _In a bull dated Sept. 18, 1437, and signed by eight cardinals, Eugenius con^ demned the synod for negotiating with the Greeks, prq,nounced it prorogued, and, at the request of the Greeks, as it alleged, transferred the council to Ferrara.^
1 "Transfer" is the word used by the pope — transferendo hoc sacrum concilium in civitatem Ferrarensium, Mansi, XXIX. 166. Reasons for the transfer to an Italian city and an interesting statement of the discussion over the place of meeting are given in Haller, Cone. Bas., I. 141-159.
§ 17. THE COUNCIL OF BASEL. 1431-1440. 175
The synod was checkmated, though it did not appreciate its situation. The reunion of Cliristendom was a measure of overshadowing importance, and took precedence in men's minds of the reform of Church abuses. Tlie^reeks all wept t^^Ferrarg,. The prelates, who had been at Basel, graduallyretired across, the Alps, including Cardinals Cesarini and Nicolas of Cusa. The only cardinal left at Basel was d'Ale-^ man, archbishop of Aries. It was now an open fight between the pope and council, and it meant either a schism of the Western Church or the complete triumph of the papacy. The discussions at Basel were characterized by such vehemence that armed citizens had to intervene to prevent violence. The conciliar theory was struggling for life. At its 28th session, October, 1437, the council declared the papal bull null and void, and summoned Eugenius within sixty days to appear before it in person or by deputy. Four monthg later, Jan. 24, 1488, it declared Eugenius suspended, and, June 25, 1439, at its 34th session, "removed, deposed, deprived, and cast him down," as a disturber of the peace of the Church, a simoniac and perjurer, incorrigible, and errant from the faith, a schismatic, and a pertinacious heretic. ^ Previous to this, at its 33d session, it had again solemnly declared for the supreme jurisdiction of councils, and denied the pope the right to adjourn or transfer a general counciL The holding of contrary views, it pronounced heresy.
In the meantime the council at Ferrara had been opened, Jan. 8, 1438, and was daily gaining adherents. Charles VII. took the side of Eugenius, although the French people, at the synod of Bourges in the summer of 1438, accepted, substantially, the reforms proposed by the council of Basel. ^ This action, known as the Pragmatic Sanction, decided for the superiority of councils, and that they should be held every
1 Eugenium fuisse et esse notorium et manifestum contumacem, violatorem assiduum atque contemptorem sacrorum canonum synodalium, pacts et unitatis ecdes. Dei perturhatorem notorium . . . simoniacum, perjurum, incorrigibilem, schismaticum, a fide devium, pertinacem hcereticum, dilapidatorem jurium et bonorum ecclesice, inutilem et damnosum ad administrationem romani pontificii, etc., Mansi, XXIX. 180.
2 Mirbt gives it in part, Quellen, p, 160.